Locking mechanism.



J. W. STEPHENSON. Y

LOOKING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 25, 1914.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

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JOHN W. STEPHENSON, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, CASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELA assreiionro THE NATIONAL MALLEAnIiE' ND, OHIO, a. CORPORATION or onro.

LOCKING MECHANISM.

niaaoii.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'Dec. 22, 1914.

Application filed May 25, 1914. Serial No. 840,758.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoI-IN STEPHEN- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, Lucas county, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Looking Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation showing a form of my improved lockingmechanism applied to a rail joint; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof partly in section; Fig. 3 is a section on lines Fig. 4 is a detail of the locking or key member, and Fig. 5 illus trates various sections of the locking member shown on the lines a, b, c, d and e of Fig. 4.

My invention relates to locking members for relatively movable parts and consists particularly in an improvement on the looking or key member described and'claimed in my reissued Letters Patent N 0. 13,570, dated June 8, 1913. I have found, in practice, that where the bendable key is driven into the receiving slot, sometimes, by reason of the clearance necessarily permitted in such slot, variations in the size of the keys or in the size of the slots will permit the key to be drawn back slightly after being driven to locking position, so that looseness will occur between the wedge and the shoulder of the key, which may, result in the de vice becoming ineffective.

My present invention consists in forming the slot in such manner that, regardless of variations in the sizes of the slots or in the key, the key will be locked in any position to which it is driven. To this end I prefer to form'the slot with curved or inclined faces so that the metal of the key when driven will be distorted or bent with relation to its central axis and will thereby be held firmly and positively in any position to which it may be driven.

Referring to the drawings in which I have shown my invention as applied to a rail joint, A indicates the rail, 13 the fastener plate, C the wedge members, D the looking or key member, and E a rail engaging member. The rail engaging member E has a slot 2,, which contains a hump or boss 3, which is so arranged that the central portion of the key D, when applied, will be driven in and bent into concave form over the hump, and will thereafter be bent in flattened form by the usual curved portion 4: of the slot in the entering end. The key or looking member, prior to application, is of the usual flat form, and when driven home will assume the shape shown in Figs. 2, 8, 4 and 5, in which its end portion 5 is bent upon the curved portion and its central portion 6 is hump or boss 3. The key D head 7, which bears against'the rear face 8 of the wedge C, to hold the wedge in wedgs ing position against the rail engaging member E.

It will be seen that as the bendable looking member is driven home in the slot it will immediately become locked and that there will be no slack which will permit the wedging members to become loose. also be seen that various modifications may be made in the construction which I have described and shown without departing from my invention.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a locking device for relatively movable parts, a key member having a shoulder and a bendable portion, a channel adapted to receive the bendable portion of said key, successive cross sections of said channel be ing of different shapes, whereby a cross sec tion of the key member is distorted, when driven into engagement with the walls of the channel.

2. In a locking mechanism for relatively movable members, a plurality of wedge members adapted to be moved relatively to each other longitudinally into wedging engagement to clamp a third member, one of said members containing a deflecting channel anda separate bendable key member arranged to be driven longitudinally of the relatively movable members and into said deflecting channel to hold the wedge members in wedging position, the said key member in driven position having cross sections of different shape from the original cross section.

3. In a track fastener, wedging members adapted to has the usual be moved relatively to each other longitudinally of the 4, of the slot, bent over the It will a plurality of ail into Wedging engagement With each its length out of coincidence with its origiother to clamp the M11, one of said members nal cross sectional shape.

containing a deflectin channel and a sepa I rate key member adagted to be driven into JOHN STEPHENSON said channel to hold one-0f said Wedging WVitnesses:

members in wedging position and being in E. G. SCHUGI-IERT, driven position bent at difierent portions m C. \V. ERKERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner oi Patents. Washington, D. C. 

